Paint It Black
by QueenPersephoneofHades
Summary: The old worlds are swirls of color and memory and death. Separate, but never truly forgotten.


_she__ cannot find a way out. __She__ has made it all new; made a safe place for Pink-Yellow-Red-Blue to be together again_

* * *

**1**

Kyoko never even shows up.

Sayaka never heard of Magical Girls here, never even saw Kyubey, never made a contract. She died in the hospital with that Kyosuke boy when the evacuation couldn't get them away from Walpurgisnacht in time.

Mami's death is relatively peaceful despite being in the monster's shadow, holding the hand of her best and greatest friend as she chokes her last breath before stillness.

Madoka stands tall, strong, fearlessly leaping into battle alone to save the world like the good person and great hero that she is.

The one left behind cowers until it's all over, then cries in anguish when she discovers the body amid the rubble.

* * *

_safe and secure, this place has it all; family and friends and good food and warm beds and __she__ should be happy, __she __**should**__ be, because they are __**safe **__and __**alive **__and __**free**__, but __she __**cannot**__ be – where is Purple?_

* * *

**19**

Sayaka, the weakest of them all and yet the most brash, ends up with Kyoko's spear buried in her gut.

Mami has no qualms with shooting the redhead pointblank, eyes vacant and Soul Gem darkening near instantly.

Madoka sobs as she destroys one friend while cradling another, unable to rouse herself even when the authorities show up and take her away, a murder charge dropping onto her record and prison on her horizon.

The coward pleads with them, citing that the ordeal had been her own fault and that Madoka was blameless, but gains no reaction; freeing Madoka herself becomes her downfall when the smaller girl simply walks into a Labyrinth without even transforming, never to return.

* * *

_she__ cannot find Purple; __she__ seems to have misplaced her. the Red and Yellow and Pink and Blue swirl endlessly in dizzyingly delighted patterns, mixing and dancing and connecting, but there is no Purple; where is Purple? should she not be here with her friends?_

* * *

**36**

Sayaka's head is smashed open by a boulder, sent flying by one of the coward's explosions. She didn't even see it coming.

Madoka, horrified, doesn't even notice the Witch behind her until it has snapped her up in jaws too large and crushing.

Mami screams and rages and tears her hair, pointing a gun at the coward and nearly squeezing off a fatal shot before time stops and the fearful one flees, giving up before Walpurgisnacht even shows her terrible face.

* * *

_Yellow has a sister, a little one made of Orange; Blue has Red and Red has Blue, despite their protests to the contrary; Pink has a family who loves and cares for and cherishes her, and yet she feels alone; where has Purple gone to? _

* * *

**57**

Mami is the first to go this time; a solo hunt, undertaken while Sayaka is recuperating and Madoka is patrolling elsewhere, results in a crushed Soul Gem and a missing body that will never be found.

Kyoko shows up and practically dies the next day; confident prattle means nothing when you're so distracted trying to show off you lose focus.

Sayaka collapses a week later, furious tears and a broken heart giving way to a vengeful Witch that does not stop until she has Hitomi's head mounted on a violin bow and Kyousuke's heart in her hands.

Madoka smashes her Soul Gem herself, alone in her room and unable to take her family's blissful ignorance any longer.

The coward watches, and cries, but cannot bring herself to apologize to her friend's family for killing their daughter before she disappears.

* * *

_there is something wrong; without Purple, how can they be a Quintet? Orange is here, but it is not the same; they need five, and Purple had been fifth. but where is she? __she__ cannot find her anywhere_

* * *

**72**

They are fools, the lot of them.

She doesn't need their help.

But she gets it, asked for or not, and Kyoko's throat is torn out and Sayaka's legs go flying and Mami's ribcage is smashed. And Madoka's heart breaks, and Walpurgisnacht is too strong, and the coward can only turn her back as the city burns behind her.

* * *

_Purple is not here, not a part of the dance they have made for themselves, and they cannot find her any better than __she__ can; it is lonely, and sad, and Pink does not like this place as much as before_

* * *

**85**

"I don't need your help."

"I think you do."

"No. Go home, Kaname-san; I can handle this on my own."

"You know, the more you say that, the less I believe you."

"Go. Home."

"Homura, please let me help you; what's the worst that could happen?"

Blood and bones and bits of brain all splattered on the ground in a picture so pretty it makes her hurl.

"I told you so."

* * *

_she__ finds her, suddenly, up high among the clouds, sitting at a café table far too transparent to truly exist, sipping tea and petting an Incubator with more force than necessary. "Homura?" __she __says, because this is not what __she__ expected_

* * *

**98**

Mami's head goes to Charlotte again. She might've known.

Sayaka, the foolish girl, has gone out with a rather impressive bang, taking Kyoko with her into oblivion.

And now Madoka is all alone with tears on her cheeks and loneliness in her eyes, but it's _okay, _because she still hasn't transformed; she's made no wish, has no contract, remains a regular human.

And she convinces herself that this is _good, _this is _acceptable_; a broken, down-trodden Madoka is better than a dead Madoka, she tells herself.

She almost believes it.

* * *

_Purple is not Purple; Purple is now __Black,__ the nameless one, and __she__ is taken aback at the dark smirk on the __Demon's__ face as she watches Pink-Yellow-Red-Blue-Orange dance throughout __Her__ world, this safe haven created specifically for them_

* * *

**99**

This world is wrong.

It is wrong, and twisted, and they shouldn't be here, but

what is the real world outside this Labyrinth?

What is a world where Mami stares at her suspiciously, and Kyoko distrusts them both? What is a world where Sayaka evaporated into thin air, never to be seen by another living soul?

What is a world without Madoka, where even the memory of her is nonexistent and impossible? What is a world where she cannot see her every day, where she cannot hold her hand, where she cannot press their lips together like she has wished to for innumerable life times?

It is a world she does not wish to live in.

But it is a world she cannot abandon.

Madoka didn't.

She won't either.

* * *

**100**

_Black__ smirks, swirls her glass, leaning seductively towards __her__ in a silent challenge_

_ "Are you going to stop me?" __She__ asks, lips set in a coy smile even as __Her__ wings tense behind __Her_

_she__ stares at Purple who is now __Black,__ wide golden eyes meeting flashing technicolor_

_ "We are together again," __she__ says slowly, "Why would I want to leave?"_

_Black__ stares, eyes wide_

_White__ smiles, takes a cup of tea_

_ together, they watch Red-Blue-Orange-Yellow swirl in a dream_

_ they meet for a desperate kiss just as Pink and Purple reunite_

* * *

**~Fin**

* * *

** A/N: Damn. What the hell did I just write? I have no idea. This was… it started as a little thing and now it's this. Um. Tell me what you think? I wrote this differently than I'm used to, so I don't know how I did; please give your opinion, it helps a lot!  
P.S. Black = Demon Homura. White = Madokami. Just in case that part didn't make sense.  
~Persephone**


End file.
